The Last of Us: Fighting For Humanity
by Renegade197
Summary: Alex and Emma are just 2 ordinary teenagers fighting for their lives everyday, but with the constant random attacks from Firefly members their fight for survival is made a lot harder, but they know what the Fireflies really do with the survivors that they take in, unfortunately they know too much and the knowledge that they have is too valuable to get to the ears of the public...
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1 **

The outlines of the men were hard to see and with the blizzard getting worse and worse by the second, it was soon impossible to make them out altogether. Before long it wasn't clear what lay more than 5ft outside. I backed away from the window and sat next to Emma, the silence lingering in the air.

"Got any bright ideas on _how _were getting out of here?" I asked eventually, even though the doors and windows were closed I was still shivering from the cold.

"I thought you were the one with the bright ideas," she snapped back, her tone was arrogant and from her facial expression it was evident that she couldn't care less.

"Come on, we're in a situation where we're faced with life or death, _don't _get bitchy with me now."

"Bitchy!? You're the one that got us into this mess! I have no responsibility for this; you should be the one-" She was cut off as the door opened and an old man entered the room.

"Shut it the both of ye and eat." He spoke very proudly but had a very strong Scottish accent in his voice. He put down the two trays on the floor and nudged them through the tiny gap underneath the cell door with his foot. He gave us a very dirty look before leaving the room and slamming the door behind him.

Emma and I caught each other's stare, our plan was in motion and the blizzard gave us perfect cover for escape. Picking up the knife and fork from the tray I went to the cell door and put my hands around the other side of the door to reach the lock. I entered the blade of the knife into the top of the lock and the handle of the fork in the bottom; I fiddled around with the lock for a few seconds and then the lock on the door retracted and the door opened a few inches.

"We need to find our gear that they stole from us," Emma said almost reading my mind.

"I thought they put it the storeroom over the hall," I said, specifically remembering the time when we were thrown into the cell.

Opening the door, we peaked out, looking for any sorts of movement. There were none. The wooden floor outside creaked with every step until we reached the door. We were amazed with what we saw on the other side; guns, ammo, medication, the lot. Our back packs had been emptied and thrown to the side, retrieving them we packed as much as we needed, a few pistols and a couple of clips of ammo, and a few bottles of antibiotics, it was needless to overload ourselves to the point where we couldn't travel more than a mile without wearing ourselves out. Emma began reloading a pistol of her own; I put my hand on the top of it and shook my head from side to side.

I whispered, "Not now." She nodded but I could see that she was eager to use a firearm again.  
Opening the door to the outside world was like a slap in the face, the wind nearly knocked me off balance and the snow immediately began to rush in. It was cold, very cold. The words of the men could be heard slightly as the constant howling of the wind seemed to drown out their voices. Diving behind boxes and anything else we could find we were eager to escape, this place might as well had a banner saying "Promised Death Here" because these people had no mercy for others, they killed others unless they had some sort of use to them. This place was sickening, I never noticed the piles of corpses that lay on top of each other and left to decay, now to be honest I wish I didn't notice it.  
We were almost there; everything was going good so far. The exit of the camp was in sight, just a few more meters and we'd be out. The only disadvantage the blizzard gave us however was the inability to see others around us until it was too late.

"Hey! They're escaping!" Someone shouted from behind us, shouts from other people started to come alive as they became alert to our escape.

"Shit!" Emma growled under her breath.

"We need to move. Now!" I screamed. I was not going back into that bloody cell again.  
We started to run, the forest outside gave us the best cover to escape, it wasn't perfect but it would do, for now. Running through the snow was slowing us down a lot but the cover from the canopies of the trees above caught most of the falling snow so it wasn't too deep yet. But we hadn't lost our captors just yet; their shouts didn't linger far behind. Then gunfire went off. Bullets started to lodge themselves into trees and others went past their target, us. Sprinting on, desperate to get away, we tried to find some way of losing our pursuers. There was nothing, nothing here to help us do that. Emma was _a_ _lot _faster than I was and was at least about 10ft further than me. She suddenly came to a halt and soon I saw why…


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

Any further and Emma would have fallen about 70ft down to the Earth, a huge drop waited for Emma to take the next step. The shouts of the our captors echoed through the forest behind us, the blizzard was a little less fierce but the leaves on the trees still rustled very loudly. We didn't have the time to mess around; we needed to get away before they caught up to us

"Come on, over here!" Emma shouted while running off deeper into the forest. I followed but she definitely had much more stamina than I did. As we ran the shouts became a lot quieter and then… nothing.

Emma stopped "I think we lost them"  
"I hope so" I said, trying my best to get the remaining oxygen in the air.

She didn't look out of breath and didn't show any signs of exhaustion. I was completely out of breath and knackered, I sat down at the nearest tree and took the time to catch my breath, it was still freezing outside, snow continued to fall. I put out my hand and let the snow gradually build up on it, it was the first time I've seen snow since I was 8, back when I had someone to care for me but now I have no one except from Emma, she seemed like a sister to me, well I wouldn't say a sister because brother and sisters always fight whereas we hardly ever do, especially on this situation. I began to drift off, remembering how my mother was taken from me. I'd always promised to avenge her death but I know now that trying to do that was a fool's errand.

Emma nudged me but not with one of those "slight nudges" as she calls them, this was more serious. The world around me began to come back into focus along with the sound, and I immediately knew what was troubling her. Screams came from within the forest around us, a lot of screams, not humane screams but screams of runners and screams were a lot higher in pitch while runners sound like tortured victims just before death.

The runners came charging out of the undergrowth not far from where we were.

"Alex, go!" Emma screamed, I got up and slipped back down from the ice that lay on the ground, I tried to get back up but my foot wouldn't move, I looked down, a runner had a grip on my foot, I tried desperately to loosen his grip but nothing was working. The runner squirmed along the ground, trying gravely to kill for its next meal.

Kicking and flailing I tried to get it off, a gun went off behind me and the runner soon went limp, I looked behind me and there was Emma, standing with her gun aimed at the 'now dead' runner.

"Not like we're going to attract any more attention soon" Emma said with a brief smile. I returned the smile.

The other members of the hoard soon came charging in the first wave's steps and we began to run while the infected gave chase.

...

Joel and Tess made their way through the slums of the quarantine zone; it was getting worse and worse every week. People were now selling random crap in hope for a few more Ration Cards. Others who had nothing to offer simply sat on the ground, leaning against buildings starving.

"This is sick" Tess said, Tess didn't usually make comments unless it was something that she thought was desperate for her to say. Joel looked around; he agreed with her, this was bad. There was nothing, food was on the shortage, medication was nearly all but gone and weapons were all cheap crap that had gathered up rust after so long of not being used

"It is" He finally said.

Many people just stared at us as we passed but only few had the courage to beg for food or water. We would have helped them but we were also suffering shortages in food. A child was among the beggars, Tess nearly passed him, Joel could tell immediately that she was feeling sympathy for the poor child

"Wait for a second" she said while searching her back pockets, Joel took the time to see how everything had changed since he had left about 2 years ago. Everything was a disaster, buildings had long and wide vined growing down from the top of them and many looked broken into, broken doors, windows, you name it, it all looked in disarray.

When Joel looked back to Tess she was crouching in front of the child.

"Here" she said in a soft and sweet tone. The boy looked up at her then the Ration Card, his eyes changed like she was offering him pure gold in front of his face, he pulled up his hand very slowly then put a light grip around the few that Tess had left.

"Go on, they're yours" she said with the same sweet tone.

"Thank you" The boy said in a very mild voice and he got up and ran off into the derelict city.

Tess stayed crouched until the boy had run out of sight.

"That was generous, especially for you" Joel said to her surprised

"It doesn't hurt to have a bit of sympathy when the world is going to shit" She began to get up and continued walking off, he looked back to where we'd lost sight of the boy… then he soon followed Tess.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

Joel's backpack felt as light as a feather as all of the food they once had was now gone, ammunition was also running on the short side.  
"This bastard is gonna get what he deserves" growled Tess, you never wanted to anger a woman like Tess, or if you did it wouldn't end well…

"For what he's done he sure is" Joel replied.

Walking through the city was like hell on Earth; well, when infected undead mutants try biting your face off it isn't far from hell on Earth already. They knew where their target was… Robert Bronn, a typical smuggler for illegal weaponry. His crew was mainly located by Old Warehouse in Area 5, just by the docks.

A man in a dark hoodie stood before the tunnel leading to the warehouses, his skin was dark in colour and his face looked dirty. Tess leaned against the wall for a second.

"Robert come through here?" She said while holding out more ration cards, trying to bribe him. He glanced over the ration cards then looked back at Tess.

"Sure did, about half hour ago, by the wharf" He said, he waited for a second before taking the cards and shoving them into his back pocket and continued to stare at the ground like he had no interest with anyone.

The journey had been smooth sailing so far, no conflicts with Robert's men so far, looked like they had the advantage of a sneaky entrance. As they reached the corner of the first warehouse 3 distinct shadows were waiting within, god knows for who though. They walked out of the shadows and the sunlight illuminated their bodies. They were Robert's henchmen… not such a smooth sail anymore.

"Here we go" Joel said under his breath, just enough so Tess would also hear. Crates laid nearly everywhere and holes in piles of crates where Robert and his men had hoped to find something of use.

"Let us through" Tess snarled, hoping to scare them off with her aggressive tone. It didn't work well.

"You guys better head back if you know what's good for you" One of the henchmen snarled back, he was more muscly in looks and looked to be the leader of the small pack.

"Our beef isn't with you, we just want Robert. You don't want to do this" Tess replied, it was weird for Tess to try and negotiate with others, she'd usually use some sort of violence to get here own way. The henchman was having none of it.

"Turn the fuck around and leave now" His tone showed his emotions, he was angry and getting impatient _very _quickly. I continued to let Tess do the talking.

"I'm not leaving without Robert" Tess advanced towards him very slowly.

"Bitch, I will bash your skull unless you turn around and get your dumb ass outta here" He was getting severely pissed off now and so was Tess.

"Fuck this" Tess said as she raised her gun and without hesitation put a bullet through his head.

The other 2 stood in shock at the sight.

"Take cover!" They shouted as they dived over the nearest box for cover.

...

"Run, not too further now!" Emma screamed as the several runners and clickers followed us, nearly on our heels. It was going to be close but we'd make it. The quarantine zone was less than half a kilometer away, the guards on patrol spotted us, and it was before Curfew so we knew we were going to be let in without a doubt. The huge metal door opened slightly and a head appeared around the side.

"Get in now!" He screamed as we ran for the safe haven.

We barely made it, Emma went in first and shortly I did too, the door closed _very_ quickly and the sounds of bangs came through the metal as the runners and clickers desperately tried to get in.

"They won't get through that will they?" I asked

"They haven't seemed to in the last 20 years so I guess not" He replied with a smirk, it was great to find some people who still had the remnants of a sense of humour. I returned the smile.

At least we were safe from the Fireflies for a bit… or that's what we thought… 


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

As we walked through the quarantine zone it became clear that this was no longer a safe haven but a prison set up by the military that deprived its citizens of their rights and forced families and others out for scanning, sometimes screaming on to the street for everyone to see. The city looked much more wrecked than when I left it 10 years ago, but no surprise that everything gets wrecked over time when no one with any sort of talent is alive to sort out these things but the laws were still the same by the looks of it: Scanning every 3 days and rations of 20 ration cards were handed out weekly.

"Yup, still the same hellhole that I lived in 10 years ago" I said, deliberately putting a hint of disapproval in my voice.

Emma laughed for the first time in ages, I don't remember the last time she laughed and had her mind taken off the constant danger that we were in.

I knew that the Fireflies would keep chasing us, it hadn't been too long since we'd escaped and we weren't too far away either, probably 5 miles at the max.

"We can't stay here, the fireflies probably have spies on us right now" Emma said and she was correct, most people would do anything just for a bigger share of ration cards and they weren't going to let us slip away that easily.

"Sure, but can we visit somewhere first?" I asked, I knew what I wanted to see would break me but regardless, I wanted to go there.

Joel climbed out of the window and Tess followed shortly after.

Robert was pulling and pushing at a metal gate but no luck, it was locked. He turned and faced them. His hair was in a ponytail and was grey in most areas; however he only looked to be in his mid-30s. He gave a small grin but it was obvious that he was scared and fear ran through every vein in his body.

"Joel…Tess" He said "No hard feelings, right?" He said with a smile.

"Sure, none given" Tess replied, returning the smile.

Tess kneeled down and picked up a metal piece of a pipe that had fallen from the roof above. Robert's grin improved and he tried to run straight past them. Tess swung the pipe, aiming at his legs. The pipe made contact and Robert howled in pain and he fell towards the floor.

"No hard feelings right?" Tess said, tormenting him with a bigger smile than before.

"We're here for one thing Robert; you give us what we want…we let you go." Tess added

"You're not getting shit out of me!" He screamed.

Tess turned to Joel and nudged her head at Robert. Joel kneeled down and grabbed his arm and started pulling it around the opposite direction of where it should go. Robert howled in pain again.

"Fine, fine, fine, stop, I'll tell you what you want" He gasped for breath "What is it?" He finished.

"The guns Robert, we had a deal. Didn't we?"

"Yes sure…" His voice had a lot of pain within it.

"So, where are they?" Tess asked.

"Well, I err… Sold them" Robert said.

Tess laughed "You what!?"

"I had a debt with the Fireflies; it was the only way I could pay it off. Give me a week or something and I can get them back" Robert replied.

"I would have said yes if you hadn't tried to fucking kill me a minute ago" Tess said, she was getting impatient very quickly.

Joel twisted his arm further until it done a full circle and gone back to its original position. Robert's scream sounded like a cry and a howl from a tortured dog mixed together.

"Or we could get them back…together" Robert said with a smile.

Tess thought about it for a second.

"Fuck this" she said as she pulled out her pistol and ended his miserable life.

* * *

My mother's grave, she was killed by the military when I was 8 and my brother left me when I was 6 and I never saw him again, God knows if he's still alive.

Just remembering the day of her death broke me, an 8 year old child screaming, trying to break free of the soldier's grip as his mother was dragged to her death and then shot right in front of his eyes. The memory still killed me now. I soon felt tears running down my face. Emma put her arm around me and held me tighter towards her.

"It wasn't your fault" She said

"I know" I said back, but I couldn't feel some sort of guilt for her death.

"Can we just go now?" I asked, the question sounded like something a small child would ask.

"Ok, let's go" Emma said with a comforting smile.

"I never thought I'd see you again soon" A mysterious voice said from behind Joel and Tess.

They turned to face whoever was there. It was Marlene.

"Marlene, I thought you died not long ago" Tess said surprised.

"So did I" Joel added

"I had assassins on me, a fake death would throw them off track" Marlene added with a sly grin.

"Well, who was buried in your 'supposed' grave?" Joel asked

Marlene shrugged.

"I see you still have your lack of dignity for the dead" Joel replied.

* * *

As we walked towards the South exit the Fireflies caught us off guard. An explosion went off at the gate and hordes of Runners swarmed in. People screamed as they desperately ran for their lives. We had to run the opposite way in which we came, which no doubt we would run straight back into the arms of the Fireflies.

"Over here" Emma shouted

Nearly half a dozen people ran in before I did, but as I got in Emma closed the doors and the Runners smashed against the door, it looked like it was going to hold, but then the door started spitting out splinters as the hinged were ripped off the wall and the door collapsed…


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

As the door made contact with the ground with a great crash, the layers of dust that had built up on the ground flew into the air, making us gasp and cough for breath. The Runners made their presence known once more with their high pitch, deafening screams. Their silhouettes were the first thing that we saw through all the dust.

"Everyone; go! Keep running!" They didn't need to be told twice, the civilians ran, not considering where the abandoned hallways may take them.

The constant running over the last couple of hours had pushed me to my limits, and for once I saw that Emma was taking the force of it as well.

The outbreak in the quarantine zone was no doubt the Fireflies trying to flush us out, but they want us dead and this was an easy way to achieve their goal.

…

An explosion erupted by the South Gate and the sound echoed for miles in each direction.

"That your people?" Joel asked

"Sure is" Marlene replied as they stood on a tall building looking over the quarantine zone "Just to get rid of some… troubling people" She added.

"Who are these people then?" Tess asked.

Marlene searched her left pocket, when she realized there was nothing of use in there she searched her right pocket. She brought out two photographs and handed them to Joel. One was a young boy, he looked about 15 or 16, he had dark brown hair and his face was covered in grime, the other was a girl, she looked a bit older, about 17 or 18, she had long blonde hair and her face was also covered in dirt in places.

"Why… they're just kids!" Tess said, looking surprised.

Marlene looked at them while clenching her side from a previous bullet wound, she was speechless, she didn't know what to tell them.

"They…they stole a lot of supplies from us"

Tess didn't seem convinced; she folded her arms and raised her eyebrow at her.

Guns shots echoed from many parts of the quarantine zone. Runners fell to the ground quivering and soon they were all dead.

"Damn…" Was all Marlene said as she clenched her wound more, making it bleed more.

"Let's go" She said.

She started to walk off

"I don't like this, she's gone mad with power" Joel said.

* * *

The runners were constantly pushing up against the door. It was a dead end and we had half a dozen frightened and scared civilians behind us crying in fear.

We kept pushing but we couldn't close the door to close the locks on it.

"Some of you people help us!" I screamed, not many came to our aid but it was enough to push the door closed and to close the lock.

Now it was just the waiting game for the military to find us and hopefully the door didn't give way anytime soon.

* * *

As Marlene opened the door she fell through and on to the floor, her wound finally taking its toll on her. A small grunt came from the corner, a girl had a knife and charged towards Tess, she looked no older than 14 but looked very clean compared to everyone else. Tess easily grabbed her arm and disarmed her of the knife.

"Relax Ellie, they're with us"

The girl looked very depressed at her attempt to harm these strange people.

"Now about the guns" Tess said

"Sure, but I need you to do something for me first" Marlene said.

"I knew you were going to say that, but I want to see the guns before we do _anything_" Tess replied.

Marlene grumbled a bit before answering.

"Fine, you come with me and Joel, take Ellie to the top floor in that building across the street."

The girl rebelled against her "No fucking way am I going with him, I…" She was cut off as Marlene spoke.

"Do as I say Ellie, I'm not asking, I'm telling you to go with him whether you like it or not." Marlene sounded like a very demanding mother at this point and sounded very aggravated despite her constant gasps for air over the excruciating pain coming from the wound.

Ellie let out a sigh and looked towards Joel

"Fine" She said at last.

* * *

As we stood out of the path of the door bullets sprayed through the thick wood and the sound of the Runner's groans faded as they were moved down by the constant spray of metal shards. We opened the door and the bodies were littered over the ground, there were a lot more than I originally thought.

As we exited the building, soldiers were already dragging the infected bodies to a point where they would soon be burned to stop any other infected picking up the scent of the dead, they were also putting other newly dead bodies into body bags, from a quick glance the bodies looked pretty devoured to have any chance of living, parts of their arms had been bitten completely away from the rest of the arm and parts of the neck were also quite mauled. It was a horrible sight but this is all you saw apparently on the first night of the outbreak, I remember elders telling me about it, the carnage and how everyone was only caring about 1 person... themselves. Apparently the death toll rocketed in the first few hours and even more after the night had passed. It seemed too horrible to imagine though, bodies and pools of blood littering the streets, it all seems too horrific.

Emma put her hand on my shoulder, making me jump.

"We should go, the Fireflies could be here _right_ now"

I nodded in approval as we ran through the now destroyed South Gate and past bits of burning and scorched metal.


End file.
